My freshman year here at North Carolina State University, I was seriously on the fence about sorority recruitment. I would become the first woman in my family to “Go Greek”, and the prospect was a little bit daunting. Are sororities the same as they look in movies and TV shows? Was hazing a thing? What if I’m not pretty enough? Rich enough? Smart enough? On a whim, I decided to at least go through with formal recruitment, and it became the best decision of my life. Let me tell you why.
It’s because sororities are nothing like they’re portrayed on television, but so much better. Being in a sorority means so much more than just social events and community service: it’s a state of being, and it changed my entire life like I never thought it could.
Over the first couple of months after joining my chapter, I realized that it became my home away from home. A place where I could spill my deepest, darkest secrets free from judgment, a place to go when I was bored or alone, and a place to learn and grow as a woman. Being in a sorority made me realize that I am strong, I am beautiful, and I am capable of great things. In an environment where my sisters were constantly pushing me past my comfort zone, but also pulling me back from the danger zone. I have grown as a women more in the past year than I could ever imagined otherwise.
I’ve learned more from my sisters than I could ever learn in a classroom. I’ve learned how a sister whose mother has been battling cancer, never complains and instead smiles at the little things in life every day. I’ve learned how a sister who declined experimental surgery after a sports accident, and can never play sports again, becomes the most positive and encouraging woman I’ve ever met.
I’ve learned that a sister, whose close friend died in high school, is strong enough to spend his birthday celebrating his life rather than mourning his death. I’ve learned that a sister diagnosed with multiple genetic diseases is still the funniest person I’ve ever met. I figured out that my heart could ache for one of my sisters as if the pain was my own.
We all have our stories, some worse than others, and we are all better together because we have had the chance to learn and grow from one another’s experiences. Sorority life is not just parties and pretty dresses and paradise for us. It is a livelong experience with its own ups and downs that teaches us the meaning of true sisterhood. We laugh together, we cry together, and we fight together. Being in a sorority meant being a part of something bigger and better than each of us are individually.
Despite the painfully long recruitment sessions, and the awkward (but funny) bid day conversations with soon-to-be best friends, I found more than I could ever hope for in a sorority. It’s not something that anyone can ever hope to understand on the other side of the fence, and every year we hope more and more women decide to hop that fence.
